π° πΈ High Paying & Hiring π Apply to Vertical Gen AI π€, Meta on Fireπ₯ π, Reddit $5B IPO? π£
Feb 04, 2024 - High paying cos are hiring, Meta stock and bonuses lift, and Reddit may finally IPO
πΌ Hiring Trends
πΒ The 3-Pointer
Funding in generative AI startups surged over 250% to reach $29 billion globally in 2023 according to Pitchbook, thanks to large rounds for OpenAI, Anthropic, and others.
But downstream vertical AI startups saw even faster growth, with deal activity in healthcare AI specifically doubling in 2023
As the AI market matures, vertical AI solutions in areas like manufacturing, agriculture, and medicine may be overlooked areas to target in your search
π° Salary Spotlight
Meta gave out bigger bonuses with its big earnings win, while other big tech companies like Microsoft didnβt give merit increases to many.
Despite layoffs, Metaβs financials and stock performance have been soaring
Meta reportedly is giving big bonuses this year
Other tech companies cut bonuses, even completely for some orgs
What else would be valuable for your job search? Let us know by leaving a comment.
πΈ Get Hired
π§° Job Search & Negotiation Tips
Tip: Mass Personalization Job Search
Volume: Apply broadly to 100+ jobs per week
Quality: Focus on 20 jobs for high-touch outreach
Automate: Use Simplify Chrome Extension to auto-fill job applications
Track: Create a job tracker (sheets work) to stay organized
Say Yes: Take any interview you get for practice, at least at first
BONUS Tip: LinkedIn βOpen To Workβ (Recruiters only)
I was surprised that a Sr. Product Director I used to manage told me he had no idea this feature on LinkedIn existed, so I think everyone should watch this.
Bonus: Make sure you turn it off/on every 1-2 weeks and reply quickly to recruiters.
π Company Power Rankings
Now it's time to take actionβ¦
Here are this week's company power rankings, so go start those reach-outs!
Legend:
πΈ Pays top of market
π° Pays competitively
π₯ Heating Up
Tip: Consider these as targets
πΈ Meta - Stock surged 20% after strong earnings and dividend announcement
π₯ Reddit - Confidentially filed for IPO, targeting $5B+ valuation
π΅Β Raised Funds This Week
Tip: Should be hiring soon. Reach out to hiring managers before they even post the jobs
DataSnipper - $100M Series B at $1B valuation for auditing automation startup (Amsterdam)
Kore.ai - $150M round for conversational AI provider (Orlando). One of the largest AI-focused rounds.
Watershed - $100M Series C at $1.8B valuation for carbon accounting startup (San Francisco)
Teamshares - Raising $100M+ for employee ownership startup (Brooklyn)
Plex - $40M Series C-3 round for media streaming software
Zum - $140M Series E at $1.3B valuation for school transportation startup
Rebellions - $124M Series B at $658M valuation for AI chip startup (South Korea)
SmithRx - $60M Series C for prescription benefits platform (San Francisco)
XReal - $60M round at $1B+ valuation for AR glasses maker (China)
Metronome - $43M Series B for usage-based billing software (San Francisco)
Oasis Security - $40M round for server/IoT security platform (Tel Aviv)
LightBeam - $17.8M Series A for data privacy compliance platform (Palo Alto)
Splash - $14.1M Series A extension for fantasy sports betting platform (Denver)
Codeium - $65M Series B at $500M valuation for AI coding platform (San Francisco). Backed by top VC Kleiner Perkins at a high valuation.
Inari Agriculture - $103M round at $1.63B valuation for crop yield improvement startup (Cambridge, MA). Over $1.5B valuation is rare for an early stage agtech startup.
Accompany Health - $56M Series A for personalized healthcare startup (Maryland). Large round for an early stage healthcare AI company.
Cube.Exchange - $12M Series A for crypto trading platform (Chicago). One of the few crypto companies raising amid the recent market crash.
βοΈ Proceed with Caution
23andMe - DNA testing startup collapsed from $6B valuation to <$1/share
PayPal - Laying off 9% (2,500 employees) of workforce
Block - Will cut headcount by 10% (1,000 employees)
Polygon Labs - Crypto startup cut 19% (60 employees) of workforce
iRobot - Amazon abandoned acquisition spurring 30% layoffs
Forward Top Tech to a friend! Everyone should be building their job options in 2024.
π Who's Hiring
Companies posting new roles this week
Public
πΈ Amazon - πͺ 17d ago, time-consuming ATS, 12,326 open jobs
πΈ Tesla - πͺ 6mo ago, 5,925 open jobs
πΈ Meta - Huge stock and earnings lift, πͺ 25d ago, 1,519 open jobs
πΈ Google/Alphabet - πͺ 13d ago, time-consuming ATS, 1,411 open jobs
πΈ NVIDIA - Still rising, 1,675 open jobs
Private
Reddit - π Planning up to $5B IPO, 3,000 employees, πͺ 8mo ago, 136 open jobs
πΈ Databricks - π¦ $43B valuation, 8,000 employees, on IPO watchlist, 332 open jobs
πΈ Jane Street - 2,000 employees, 171 open jobs
SpaceX - π¦, $150B valuation, 12K employees, 1,067 open jobs
πΈ Stripe - π¦ $50B valuation, 8,000 employees, πͺ 7mo ago, 329 open jobs
πΈ DRW - 1,800 employees, 92 open jobs
πΈ OpenAI - π¦ $29B valuation, 1,100 employees, πͺ 79d ago, 138 open jobs
π° Rippling - π¦ $11B valuation, 2,000 employees, 342 open jobs
πΈ Scale - π¦ $7B valuation, 2,000 employees, πͺ 13mo ago, 80 open jobs
πΈ Anthropic - π¦ Unicorn, $4B valuation, 240 employees, 62 open jobs
Sourced some signals from TrueUp.io
Top 20 Highest Paying Companies (Source: Levels.FYI, Staff Engineer)
πΒ IPO Watch
The biotech IPO boom and lowering valuations could reopen the tech IPO window starting in the next few months, with AI/cloud/cybersecurity startups as prime targets according to some VCs.
π’Β Promising
π₯ Reddit - Confidentially filed for IPO, targeting $5B+ valuation
Circle - Major USDC stablecoin developer confidentially filed for IPO
Shein - Chinese fast fashion giant seeking approval for US IPO, but Beijing investigating
Zeekr - Chinese electric vehicle company planning 2024 IPO
Reddit - Social media community platform planning March or April IPO, but could push
Rubrik - Data management and security company pushed back plans to Spring 2024 or later
SeatGeek - Sports/concert ticket marketplace filed for IPO in April 2023, expected in 2024
Turo - Car-sharing startup has delayed IPO plans a few times, but could go public in 2024
π‘Β Still waiting
High-paying πΈ Databricks, πΈ Plaid, and πΈ Stripe have all not yet revealed IPO plans
Unfortunately, πΈ Databricks, SpaceX, and πΈ Stripe have all allowed employees to sell shares to investors recently to delay the need for an IPO
Navan, Fanatics, and Klarna have all been quieter after earlier IPO speculation
πΒ Recent IPOs:
Oddity Direct-to-consumer beauty brand
Arm England-based chip designer
Klaviyo Marketing automation platform
Instacart Grocery delivery
Forward Top Tech to a friend! Everyone should be building their job options in 2024
Hello Colin, when reaching out to people for networking, what's the best way to ask them for a referral?